The Pharmacist Defence Association (PDA) has announced that they have launched a new education hub week with a programme of support for provisionally registered pharmacists.
The PDA programme will combine assessment practice questions, discussion forums, information, advice and guidance on a range of issues, that we know from our years of experience, many of you may face in your new role.
PDA Director, Paul Day said:
‘We know the PDA has a well-earned reputation for defending the interests of pharmacists if they find themselves in difficulty. However, those who know us appreciate that most of our work is about supporting pharmacists’ careers by campaigning for improvements that impact upon their work and helping them become better health practitioners. We have provided training and development to thousands of members as they have entered the profession, and the launch of the PDA Education Hub is the beginning of that aspect of our activity evolving to the next level’
Mark Koziol, PDA Chairman commented:
“We launched the PDA in 2003, because back then, whilst the employer organisations had considerable resources and support available to them in the event that they had a dispute with their pharmacists, individual employee and locum pharmacists would have to fend for themselves. Pharmacists were crying out for fairness and justice and our vision was to answer that call. Since that time, the PDA has grown rapidly, and today, with now more than 32,000 members, we routinely stand up for the rights of individual pharmacists, already securing more than £4,000,000 in compensation paid by employers to employees or locums who may have been treated harshly, unfairly or illegally.”
He goes on to say:
“The PDA defends the interests of pharmacists, we also ensure the individual pharmacist is heard and is helped to develop a professionally fulfilling pharmacist career. This is why we regularly talk to the government, routinely defend pharmacists through our professional indemnity operation, and more recently, we give members from all parts of society a voice through our newly established diversity networks.”
We have always been very proud to support pre-regs with free membership and to provide training so as to support the preparations for their exam. This year, with the unexpected impact of COVID-19 creating the ‘provisional registration’ programme, we are delighted to announce a fully interactive, virtual ‘prov reg’ support initiative, which has been designed to support all those new pharmacists who are preparing for their pre-reg exam in early 2021.”
The PDA has said that the programme is free to both PDA provisionally registered pharmacists and those pre-regs of 2020 who were not eligible for provisional registration.
